Wattpad: where readers, writers commune

WHO knows what young people are checking out each time they scroll down their Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram accounts. But when they’re on Wattpad, chances are they’re reading some neat stuff. So what’s up with Wattpad?

Well, Wattpad is a writing and reading community where anyone can post stories or poems online and read them either online or offline for free. It’s like a social networking site wherein readers and writers can interact in a comment box below the stories.

WORDY HABIT. Multitudes of lovers of the written word are getting hooked on Wattpad, a writing and reading community where anyone can post stories or poems online and read them for free. (FOTO BY Bernadette Abangan)

The Toronto-based Wattpad, according to Wikipedia, began in 2006 as a result of collaboration between Allen Au and Ivan Yuen, initially providing a mobile platform for 17,000 public domain works from Project Gutenberg. By June 2009, the Wattpad app had been downloaded five million times.

A venue for words

Why do Wattpad users spend so much time with this app? Because the stories In Wattpad are for free. You can read it using computers or smart phones. Readers don’t have to pay to register or download the app.

Another great thing about Wattpad is that it’s not only for reading, it’s for writing too. Wattpad is a perfect venue for aspiring writers as they can publish their stories for free.

And it gets even better: many famous Wattpad stories are now published as books and adapted into movies, such as “Diary ng Panget” and “She’s Dating the Gangster.”

There is a real mix of stuff on the site. From short stories to fan fiction, all genres are represented. Writers post work in chapters, which tend to be short, to make them suitable for mobile reading.

Interaction

One notable feature of Wattpad is that readers can keep track of their favorite writers and stories by becoming “fans,” which means they get email each time the writer posts a new “part” or story.

For further interaction, readers can post comments about the stories, the most popular of which generate plenty of feedback. Sometimes, the feedback offers suggestions on how the authors can improve their stories.

So, whether one wishes to read, write or do both, what better way to hone reading skills and interact with like-minded souls online than with Wattpad.

It may be the newest addiction among youngsters nowadays, but it’s the good kind. And it’s a reassuring thought that the love for the written word is here to stay. (Marymil M. Cabrera, USJ-R Intern)